Saudi-led coalition denies bombing Iran embassy in Yemen

Smoke rises following airstrikes allegedly carried out by the Saudi-led alliance, in Sana'a, Yemen,

The Saudi-led coalition fighting rebels in Yemen on Thursday denied an accusation by Tehran that its warplanes had targeted the Iranian embassy there.

An investigation found that “the allegations are false and that no operations were carried out around the embassy or near to it,” a coalition statement said.

“It also confirms the embassy building is safe and has not been damaged.”

Earlier Thursday Iran said it would protest to the UN Security Council after it accused Saudi warplanes of deliberately bombing its diplomatic mission in the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

“During an air raid by Saudi Arabia against Sanaa, a rocket fell near our embassy and unfortunately one of our guards was seriously wounded,” Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said, quoted by official news agency IRNA.

The Iranian accusations came days after Saudi Arabia broke off diplomatic ties with Iran in response to an arson attack on its own embassy in Tehran by protesters infuriated by Riyadh’s execution of a prominent Shiite cleric.

Coalition warplanes and troops have since March been supporting local forces in Yemen on the side of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi against Iran-backed Huthi rebels and their allies who seized large parts of the country.

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